


Dreams After Graduating

by Lightning515



Series: University Soulmates [3]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, Graduation, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:23:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9331355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightning515/pseuds/Lightning515
Summary: The rest of the year passes by quickly and before long, Reborn and Tsuna are graduating. What happens during their last year at uni?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WaiiKitsune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaiiKitsune/gifts).



True to his word, Reborn had taken the next day off and stayed home to tutor Tsuna. Reborn also made sure to examine Tsuna’s writing hand after dinner and despite not seeing anything wrong, he didn’t want the pain to develop into carpel tunnel or something worse. To prevent Tsuna from writing or typing to study, the raven came up with creative ways for the brunet to study for the upcoming exam. It wasn’t that hard, considering Tsuna was studying for a two-year degree in culinary arts, mainly focused around baking. It was a class Reborn had taken because Luce forced him to, but that knowledge was proving useful now.

He spent the day helping Tsuna memorize various spices, test various recipes and learn which ingredients go well together. In the afternoon, Luce came over with brownies and stayed to help as well. Luce was a naturally good cook and was also studying the culinary arts. 

Their apartment smelled just like a bakery by the end of the day and with a lot of effort and support, Tsuna finally felt ready for his exam.

* * *

Reborn didn’t see Tsuna before his exam, mainly because he had an early morning class and then work till late afternoon. He did make sure to wish Tsuna good luck, however, and made sure to keep a constant stream of wordless support flowing through their bond for the duration of the exam.

The raven didn’t get a response even after the exam, but he didn’t mind. The exam was for a class renowned for its difficulty in the culinary field and he wouldn’t be surprised if Tsuna practically collapsed after it.

After he finished his shift, Reborn made sure to drop by the grocery store and pick up the ingredients for Salisbury steak, Tsuna’s favorite food. He figured it would be a treat for dinner, especially considering how hard Tsuna studied for the past few days.

While he was picking out ingredients, he attempted to contact Tsuna telepathically. It was a few hours after the exam and Reborn was certain he should be home by now. But no matter how many times he called through their link, he got no response. Slightly worried, Reborn rushed to finish buying the ingredients and get home.

When he opened the door to their shared apartment, the first thing he noticed was the smell of homemade miso soup, his favorite food. Reborn took off his shoes, leaving them by the entrance, and went into the kitchen to find a huge pot of it boiling and ready to eat. Reborn chuckled softly to himself.

Reborn instead put the ingredients in the fridge, deciding to make it the next day since Tsuna had already prepared dinner. Once he finished, he walked into the living room, where he found Tsuna laying on their sofa fast asleep. A book titled _How to Open Your Own Restaurant_ was gently clasped in his hands. The raven smiled softly, taking the book from Tsuna’s hands and putting on the table nearby. He then walked back to the kitchen and turned down the fire on the pot of soup.

Dinner can wait a bit longer.

* * *

“Tsuna these muffins are so good! We should trade recipes sometime! I’ll teach you how to make sushi and you teach me how to bake!”

“Ah thank you Yamamoto! I would love to learn how to make bentos like yours!”

“Hahahaha you wanna make it for Reborn don’t you?”

“W-What are you talking about Yamamoto?!”

“You should open a bakery Tsuna-sama. You are graduating soon right? I bet your bakery would sell out every day!”

Tsuna lowered the tea cup he was cradling, lips pursed together in thought. The trio were together sitting outside the café where Reborn worked, spending some time together after midterms were over. It was a break that they all needed, Reborn giving them discounts (only Tsuna got free drinks) was a nice bonus.

Tsuna would be lying if he said that his dream wasn’t to open a bakery. That was what he wanted ever since he helped his mom bake cookies when he was young. Right now he was able to scrape together the tuition funds with whatever his father sent them (how much did his father think tuition cost? Certainly not enough.) and whatever his mom made from working odd jobs. But a bakery wasn’t feasible for him to start any time soon, even if he had plans and recipe ideas already stowed away in a notebook under the bed.

“Tsuna-sama?” The brunet blinked upon hearing his name and looked up to see the concerned faces of his friends. “Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no. Everything is fine.” He waved his hand in apology and lifted his cup to take another sip of tea. “You guys still have another two years right?” A slightly bitter feeling rose up within Tsuna and he tried not to grimace as a result.

It wasn’t his fault that his father didn’t send enough money for a four-year tuition.

Tsuna felt more than heard the question through the bond he shared with Reborn and glanced at the window of the café. Reborn stood behind the counter, making what appeared to be a latte for a customer. As if sensing Tsuna watching him, he looked up and met Tsuna’s gaze with one of his own. Tsuna merely shook his head slightly; he didn’t feel like talking about his unachievable dreams at the moment. Reborn pressed no further and turned away to hand the finished latte to the person standing at the counter.

Tsuna turned back toward his friends. Someday, he will tell Reborn his worries about the future and his dream of opening a bakery.

Someday.

* * *

Reborn was irritated. Tsuna could tell that much. The feeling flowing through the bond was vaguely suppressed frustration with a hint of exhaustion. He had tried asking Reborn what was wrong but each time Reborn told him it was nothing.

It wasn’t unusual for Reborn to keep secrets; Tsuna had his own share that he didn’t wanna share. Despite the bond, both of them respected the other’s boundaries and believed that the topic would be discussed when the time came.

However, Tsuna felt that Reborn was spending less time at the apartment as of late. With finals and graduation approaching, the increased time spent at the library studying was to be expected. But even through the bond, Reborn was more reserved and expressed his thoughts less.

Tsuna wasn’t sure what to think of this. Was Reborn avoiding him because of something he did? Or was he just busy preparing for his degree in teaching? Tsuna knew that Reborn’s dream job was to be a professor in one of the science fields. Or did he find someone else?

Quickly, Tsuna brushed the thought away before his mind could wander any farther and took out ingredients for cookies. It was probably best for him to distract himself from those thoughts.

It wasn’t until he measured out all of the dry ingredients that he realized there was no butter. He groaned internally, but since he had already started mixing the ingredients, Tsuna figured a quick trip to the store wouldn’t hurt. He grabbed his wallet and phone before heading out, making sure to lock the door behind him.

It was a relatively sunny day today, and the occasional breeze prevented Tsuna from feeling too warm. The store wasn’t that far and the short walk allowed him to get out of the apartment. The streets were relatively quiet despite the warm day; the neighborhood where Tsuna and Reborn live is mainly composed of college students, which meant that everyone was indoors studying.

Before long, Tsuna was at the grocery store. His basket carried the butter needed for the cookies, as well as some ingredients for the rest of the week. As he was paying, he recognized a familiar fedora just outside of the store. Tsuna’s face lit up and he was about to reach out across their bond when he noticed Reborn was talking animatedly with Luce. He paused, hesitant to interrupt their conversation.

Reborn was grimacing at whatever Luce was saying, before replying with a sigh and a hand pressed to his temple. Luce smiled sympathetically before reaching out to pat his shoulder. They stopped walking just outside of the store and stood to the side to avoid blocking sidewalk traffic.

Tsuna gulped. He couldn’t make out what they were talking about, since he was inside the store and they were outside. But something stopped him from calling out through their bond, from rushing out and greeting his soulmate.

He was packing the ingredients into a bag when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

_‘Hey. How much longer are you going to spend in there?’_

Tsuna jumped and spun around to face the window. Reborn and Luce were still chatting and haven’t moved from where they stopped earlier. For a second, Tsuna thought he imagined the voice.

 _‘I can feel you staring at us. Hurry out here already.’_ Tsuna’s eyes widened and he quickly bagged the rest of the groceries before heading outside. Reborn and Luce turned toward him the instant he walked outside, Reborn moving to take the groceries from Tsuna as they started walking back to their apartment.

“Tsuna! Reborn told me that you were making cookies today. You don’t mind me stopping by for some, do you?” Luce asked, hands clasped behind her back innocently.

The brunet blinked in shock before nodding. “Sure.” Luce cheered before telling Reborn about how lucky he was to have a soulmate that knew how to bake such delicious treats. Tsuna listened and nodded when addressed, not really feeling up to chatting with Luce. Reborn noticed and answered a majority of Luce’s questions, redirecting the conversation to him instead. After a while, Tsuna prodded their mental link.

_‘How did you know I was at the store?’_

_‘You were thinking about cookies earlier. And groaned when you found out there was no butter. We were heading back anyways and I figured that we might as well try to catch you along the way.’_ Reborn didn’t miss a beat between answering Tsuna and Luce, appearing to keep up both conversations easily. _‘Everything alright?’_

Tsuna didn’t respond. Rather, he didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t want to voice his insecurities; they were silly and most likely were a side effect of the stress from graduating. But Reborn seemed to have picked up on it anyways.

 _‘I finished what I went out for. We can study together for the next few days, if you want. And I’ll make dinner tonight since you made dessert.’_ At a loss for words, Tsuna send his feelings of appreciation and thanks through their link and turned to face Reborn, who stopped replying to Luce to grin at Tsuna.

“You look very kiss-able right now, you know.”

“R-Reborn!”

* * *

“Where are we going Reborn?”

“You’ll see.”

The two had woken up relatively early, despite having stayed up late the night before. Both of them finally graduated, Tsuna with a two-year degree in baking and Reborn with a Bachelors in teaching. They spent the night with all of their friends, celebrating for those that graduated and teasing those who still had a few more years.

Reborn himself had decided to take a year off before going back to school to become a fully certified teacher. Tsuna still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, and had finally voiced it to Reborn the day before their graduation.

Reborn told him that he had it covered, and refused to explain anymore.

Which led to them walking through the neighborhood, hands linked and only Reborn knowing where they were heading. They hadn’t been walking long but the curiosity was almost too much for Tsuna. Before he could ask for the millionth time where they were going, Reborn stopped in his tracks.

“We’re here.” The raven gestured to a little shop called Vongola Bakery at the corner of the street. He ignored the sign mentioning how the shop was still under renovations and opened the door with a key, prompting Tsuna to go in. Tsuna hesitated, but with an encouraging nod from Reborn, he walked in.

The bakery was decorated minimally and lit with small chandeliers from the ceiling. The shelves, which would normally be lined with pastries, were empty. The counter had a few decorations but was mostly left bare. No menu was written above the cashiers but the board was clean, as if waiting to be written on. Overall the bakery had a very peaceful and calming feel.

“W-what is this?” Tsuna said, looking at everything with wide eyes. Reborn tilted his fedora downward to hide his expression.

“It’s a graduation gift. With the help of your mom, Luce and I managed to get in contact with your good-for-nothing dad and grandfather. They helped us to buy this place so that you could open your own bakery.” Despite the confidence in his words, Tsuna could feel the slight uncertainty and hesitation from Reborn.

“Dad and grandpa did…?”

“You always wanted to open a bakery right? I heard about it from Yamamoto and Gokudera as well.” He turned to face Tsuna, who could only stare back with wide eyes. “Everyone is willing to help out part-time. Gokudera, Yamamoto, Luce, Skull… Mammon even agreed to managed our budget. I have a year off as well.” Reborn lifted his fedora off his head to run a hand through his hair.

“…It’s not like you to feel nervous Reborn.” Reborn faced Tsuna once again, who looked up with tears in his eyes. Overwhelming feelings of gratitude, happiness, and excitement flooded their bond.

“You didn’t have to do all that for me… but… Thank you.”

Reborn smirked, walked over and shoved his fedora on Tsuna’s head. Tsuna yelped in response.

“Now make me some cookies. Luce ate most of the ones from last week.”

Tsuna tilted the fedora up in order to see properly, and smiled.

“Hai!”

**Author's Note:**

> Small note that Iemitsu and Nono are well off, but Iemitsu forgot when Tsuna was going to college and didn’t send extra money to account for it. Which is why Nana started taking up odd jobs in order to help pay for it.
> 
> Come find me at [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/Chibichibichu) or check my profile for other places to find me :)


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